A 6781: Authorizes the city of New York to discontinue the use as parkland and alienate certain land within Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6781 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY March 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HOOKS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Cities AN ACT authorizing the city of New York to discontinue certain parkland in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the borough of Queens currently consisting of asphalt parking lots to allow for a new development with at least twenty acres of parkland The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subject to the provisions of this act, but notwithstanding 2 any provision of law to the contrary, including without limitation the 3 provisions of chapter 729 of the laws of 1961, the city of New York is 4 authorized to discontinue the use as parkland and alienate through the 5 entering of leases or other agreements with Queens Future, LLC, or its 6 affiliates, the lands described in section three of this act for the 7 purposes of developing, constructing, maintaining, operating, using, or 8 occupying such lands with a gaming facility and, in conjunction with 9 such facility, commercial, retail, entertainment, recreational, hotel, 10 convention, and/or community facility uses, parking, and/or roadways, 11 upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the city and 12 such company, affiliate and other entity. The lands described in section 13 three of this act may be temporarily utilized for construction staging 14 used in connection with the development of such facility, within such 15 areas and for such periods as the city of New York determines to be 16 reasonably necessary for such purpose. 17 § 2. The authorization provided in section one of this act shall be 18 effective only upon the condition that the city of New York dedicates an 19 amount equal to or greater than the fair market value of the parklands 20 being discontinued towards the acquisition of new parklands and/or capi- 21 tal improvements to existing parklands and recreational facilities with- 22 in the borough of Queens, which capital improvements shall include the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD07748-04-5 
 A. 6781 2 1 development of no less than 20 acres of parkland within the land 2 described in section three of this act or adjacent parkland, including a 3 north-south connection from the northern boundary of the passerelle 4 pedestrian bridge to Boat Basin Place, to be constructed and maintained 5 by such company, or affiliate described in section one of this act. 6 § 3. The lands authorized to be discontinued as parklands pursuant to 7 section one of this act are as follows: 8 All that certain lot, piece, or parcel of land situated, lying, and 9 being in the Borough and County of Queens, City and State of New York, 10 being more particularly bounded and described as follows: 11 Area A 12 Commencing at the corner formed by the intersection of the southerly 13 line of Roosevelt Avenue (80' wide) and the westerly line of 126th 14 Street (80' wide) and running thence; 15 A. Along the southerly line of Roosevelt Avenue, S 68° 30' 17" W, a 16 distance of 10.20' to a point, thence; 17 B. Along a line that bears, N 21° 29' 43" W, a distance of 80.00' to a 18 point on the northerly line of Roosevelt Avenue and being the TRUE point 19 of BEGINNING, and running thence; 20 1. Along the northerly line of Roosevelt Avenue, S 68° 30' 17" W, a 21 distance of 2,377.78' to a point on a curve of the easterly easement 22 line of the Grand Central Parkway, thence; 23 2. Along the easterly easement line with a non-tangent curve to the 24 right, having a radius of 1,693.22', an arc length of 623.63', an inte- 25 rior angle of 21° 06' 09", and a chord that bears N 10° 40' 23" W, a 26 distance of 620.11' to a point of compound curvature, thence; 27 3. Continuing along the same with a curve to the right, having a radi- 28 us of 2,380.03', an arc length of 269.70', an internal angle of 6° 29' 29 34", and a chord that bears N 3° 07' 28" E, a distance of 269.56' to a 30 point of non-tangency, thence; 31 4. Continuing along the same, N 20° 03' 57" E, a distance of 172.22' 32 to a point on a curve, thence; 33 5. Continuing along the same with a non-tangent curve to the left, 34 having a radius of 520.00', and arc length of 413.78', an interior angle 35 of 45° 35' 31", and a chord that bears N 18° 52' 29" E, a distance of 36 402.95' to a point of reverse curvature, thence; 37 6. Continuing along the same with a curve to the right, having a radi- 38 us of 771.58', an arc length of 276.48', an interior angle of 20° 31' 39 51", and a chord that bears N 6° 20' 39" E, a distance of 275.00' to a 40 point on a curve of the southerly line of Northern Boulevard (variable 41 width), thence; 42 7. Along the southerly line of Northern Boulevard with a curve to the 43 left, having a radius of 5,053.50', an arc length of 300.54', an interi- 44 or angle of 3° 24' 27", and a chord that bears N 67°42'06" E, a distance 45 of 300.49' to a point of compound curvature, thence; 46 8. Continuing along the same with a curve to the left, having a radius 47 of 4,053.50', an arc length of 63.83', an interior angle of 0° 54' 08", 48 and a chord that bears N 65° 32' 49" E, a distance of 63.83' to a point 49 of compound curvature, thence; 50 9. Continuing along the same with a curve to the left, having a radius 51 of 7,017.50', an arc length of 712.28', an interior angle of 5° 48' 56", 52 and a chord that bears N 62° 11' 17" E, a distance of 711.98' to a point 53 of compound curvature, thence; 54 10. Continuing along the same with a curve to the left, having a radi- 55 us of 1,017.50', an arc length of 43.36', an internal angle of 2° 26' 
 A. 6781 3 1 30", and a chord that bears N 58° 03' 34" E, a distance of 43.36' to a 2 point of tangency, thence; 3 11. Continuing along the same, N 56° 50' 19" E, a distance of 274.53' 4 to a point of curvature, thence; 5 12. Continuing along the same with a curve to the right, having a 6 radius of 828.50', an arc length of 168.69', an internal angle of 11° 7 39' 58", and a chord that bears N 62° 40' 18" E, a distance of 168.40' 8 to a point of tangency, thence; 9 13. Continuing along the same, N 68° 30' 17" E, a distance of 104.68' 10 to a point, said point being the corner formed by the intersection of 11 the southerly line of Northern Boulevard (variable width) with the 12 westerly line of 126th Street (80' wide), thence; 13 14. Along the westerly line of 126th Street, S 21° 29' 43" E, a 14 distance of 1,687.91' to a point, thence; 15 15. Continuing along the same, S 19° 51' 59" W, a distance of 15.44' 16 to the point or place of BEGINNING. 17 EXCEPTING, the area within and including the exterior walls of the 18 stadium known, as of the date hereof, as Citi Field. Said overall parcel 19 containing 3,352,577 Square Feet (76.9646 acres) more or less. 20 All bearings and distances are in the New York State Plane Coordinate 21 System, Long Island Zone (NAD83/2011 Epoch 2010.00). 22 Area B 23 Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the easterly side 24 of the Grand Central Parkway (variable width) with the southerly side of 25 Northern Boulevard (variable width), as depicted on Alteration Map No. 26 4152, entitled "Map No. 4152 showing the modifications in the lines of 27 the street system within the territory bounded approximately by Flushing 28 Bay, Flushing River, Northern Boulevard, 126th Street, Roosevelt Avenue, 29 114th street, Astoria Blvd and Grand Central Parkway", dated September 30 26, 1960, and filed at the Queens Borough President's Topographical 31 Bureau, and running thence; 32 Along the said southerly side of Northern Boulevard, along the arc of 33 a curve bearing to the left, having a radius of 5,053.50 feet, an arc 34 length of 300.54 feet, an internal angle of 03° 24' 27", having a chord 35 that bears North 67° 42' 06" East, a distance of 300.49 feet, to a point 36 of compound curvature, thence; 37 Continuing along said southerly side, along the arc of a curve bearing 38 to the left, having a radius of 4,053.50 feet, an arc length of 48.08 39 feet, an internal angle of 00° 40' 46", having a chord that bears North 40 65° 39' 30" East, a distance of 48.08 feet, to a point, thence; 41 Leaving said southerly side of Northern Boulevard, along a line that 42 bears, North 26° 29' 16" West, a distance of 284.58 feet, to a point on 43 the northerly side of Northern Boulevard (variable width), same being 44 the True Point or Place of Beginning, having coordinates N: 215,737.267, 45 E: 1,025,728.317 (NAD83 NY LIF), and running thence; 46 Leaving said northerly side of Northern Boulevard, along the arc of a 47 curve bearing to the left, having a radius of 104.50 feet, an arc length 48 of 68.20 feet, an internal angle of 37° 23' 27", having a chord that 49 bears North 83° 02' 57" West, a distance of 67.00 feet, to a point of 50 curvature, thence; 51 South 78° 15' 20" West, a distance of 110.08 feet, to a point of non- 52 tangency, thence; 53 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the right, having a radius of 54 132.51 feet, an arc length of 153.25 feet, an internal angle of 66° 16' 55 02", having a chord that bears North 68° 35' 23" West, a distance of 56 144.85 feet, to a point of reverse curvature, thence; 
 A. 6781 4 1 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the left, having a radius of 2 104.50 feet, an arc length of 85.17 feet, an internal angle of 46° 41' 3 42", having a chord that bears North 58° 48' 13" West, a distance of 4 82.83 feet, to a point of non-tangency, thence; 5 North 01° 26' 37" West, a distance of 3.74 feet, to a point of non- 6 tangency, thence; 7 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the right, having a radius of 8 971.95 feet, an arc length of 55.00 feet, an internal angle of 03° 14' 9 32", having a chord that bears North 89° 49' 21" West, a distance of 10 54.99 feet, to a point of non-tangency, said point being on the westerly 11 line of park land heretofore established, thence; 12 Along said westerly line, along the arc of a curve bearing to the 13 left, having a radius of 600.00 feet, an arc length of 33.84 feet, an 14 internal angle of 03° 13' 53", having a chord that bears North 38° 34' 15 55" West, a distance of 33.84 feet, to a point of non-tangency, thence; 16 Leaving said westerly line, along the arc of a curve bearing to the 17 right, having a radius of 600.36 feet, an arc length of 72.51 feet, an 18 internal angle of 06° 55' 12", having a chord that bears South 86° 18' 19 52" East, a distance of 72.46 feet, to a point of non-tangency, thence; 20 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the right, having a radius of 21 131.17 feet, an arc length of 54.89 feet, an internal angle of 23° 58' 22 41", having a chord that bears South 74° 13' 42" East, a distance of 23 54.49 feet, to a point of non-tangency, thence; 24 North 83° 37' 30" East, a distance of 7.45 feet, to a point of non- 25 tangency, thence; 26 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the right, having a radius of 27 123.86 feet, an arc length of 54.93 feet, an internal angle of 25° 24' 28 42", having a chord that bears South 47° 34' 19" East, a distance of 29 54.48 feet, to a point of non-tangency, thence; 30 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the left, having a radius of 31 101.50 feet, an arc length of 57.30 feet, an internal angle of 32° 20' 32 37", having a chord that bears South 51° 42' 38" East, a distance of 33 56.54 feet, to a point of non-tangency, thence; 34 North 19° 17' 39" East, a distance of 3.00 feet, to a point of non- 35 tangency, thence; 36 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the left, having a radius of 98.50 37 feet, an arc length of 58.36 feet, an internal angle of 33° 56' 54", 38 having a chord that bears South 84° 46' 13" East, a distance of 57.51 39 feet, to a point of tangency, thence; 40 North 78° 15' 20" East, a distance of 110.03 feet, to a point of 41 curvature, thence; 42 Along the arc of a curve bearing to the right, having a radius of 43 138.51 feet, an arc length of 110.59 feet, an internal angle of 45° 44' 44 57", having a chord that bears South 78° 52' 12" East, a distance of 45 107.68 feet, to a point of non-tangency, thence; 46 South 64° 52' 51" East, a distance of 10.31 feet, to a point, said 47 point being on the said northerly side of Northern Boulevard, thence; 48 Along said northerly side, along the arc of a curve bearing to the 49 right, having a radius of 1,500.00 feet, an arc length of 44.63 feet, an 50 internal angle of 01° 42' 16", having a chord that bears South 68° 40' 51 00" West, a distance of 44.62 feet to the True Point or Place of Begin- 52 ning, containing 15,737 square feet (0.361 acres), more or less. 53 § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the leases 54 or other agreements referenced in section one of this act may also 55 include the lands described as follows, if such lands are eliminated as 56 street from the City Map: 
 A. 6781 5 1 All that certain piece, or parcel of land, situated, lying, and being 2 in the Borough and County of Queens, City and State of New York, being 3 more particularly bounded and described as follows: 4 Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the northerly side 5 of Roosevelt Avenue (80 feet wide) with the easterly side of the Grand 6 Central Parkway (variable width), and running thence; 7 Along said easterly side of the Grand Central Parkway, along the arc 8 of a curve bearing to the right, having a radius of 1,693.22 feet, an 9 arc length of 171.40 feet, an internal angle of 05° 48' 00", having a 10 chord that bears North 18° 19' 28" West, a distance of 171.33 feet, to 11 the True Point or Place of Beginning, having coordinates N: 213,816.460, 12 E: 1,025,359.878 (NAD83 NY LIF) and running thence; 13 Leaving said easterly side, crossing said Grand Central Parkway, along 14 the arc of a curve bearing to the right, having a radius of 85.21 feet, 15 an arc length of 137.37 feet, an internal angle of 92° 21' 57", having a 16 chord that bears North 47° 55' 48" West, a distance of 122.97 feet, to a 17 point of non-tangency, thence; 18 Continuing across said Parkway, North 06° 40' 47" West, a distance of 19 185.81 feet, to a point, thence; 20 Continuing across said Parkway, North 07° 12' 02" East, a distance of 21 304.66 feet to a point of non-tangency, thence; 22 Continuing across said Parkway, along the arc of a curve bearing to 23 the right, having a radius of 7,075.40 feet, an arc length of 67.25 24 feet, an internal angle of 00° 32' 40", having a chord that bears North 25 07° 20' 16" East, a distance of 67.25 feet, to a point of non-tangency, 26 thence; 27 Continuing across said Parkway, along the arc of a curve bearing to 28 the right, having a radius of 80.34 feet, an arc length of 27.18 feet, 29 an internal angle of 19° 23' 07", having a chord that bears North 31° 30 34' 59" East, a distance of 27.05 feet, to a point of non-tangency, said 31 point being on the easterly side of said Grand Central Parkway, thence; 32 Along said easterly side, along the arc of a curve bearing to the 33 left, having a radius of 2,380.03 feet, an arc length of 212.46 feet, an 34 internal angle of 05° 06' 53", having a chord that bears South 02° 26' 35 08" West, a distance of 212.39 feet, to a point of compound curvature, 36 thence; 37 Continuing along said easterly side, along the arc of a curve bearing 38 to the left, having a radius of 1,693.22 feet, an arc length of 452.23 39 feet, an internal angle of 15° 18' 09", having a chord that bears South 40 07° 46' 23" East, a distance of 450.88 feet, to the Point or Place of 41 Beginning. 42 Containing 28,785 square feet (0.661 acres), more or less. 43 § 5. In the event that the city of New York received any funding, 44 support or assistance from the federal government for the purchase, 45 maintenance or improvement of any portion of the parklands set forth in 46 section three of this act, the discontinuance and alienation of such 47 portion shall not occur until the city of New York has complied with any 48 federal requirements pertaining to the alienation or conversion of park- 49 lands, including satisfying the secretary of the interior that the 50 alienation or conversion complies with all conditions which the secre- 51 tary of the interior deems necessary to assure the substitution of other 52 lands shall be equivalent in fair market value and usefulness to the 53 lands being alienated or converted. 54 § 6. Nothing herein shall be construed as intended to preempt any 55 provision of article 13 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding 56 law. 
 A. 6781 6 1 § 7. If construction of a gaming facility on the parklands described 2 in section three of this act is not commenced within fifteen years of 3 the effective date of this act or if such parklands shall ever be used 4 for a purpose other than for the purposes described in section one of 5 this act, such parklands shall revert back to the city of New York 6 department of parks and recreation to be used for park and recreational 7 purposes or for the purposes provided by chapter 729 of the laws of 8 1961, including any amendments thereto. 9 § 8. In conjunction with the development described in section one of 10 this act, the facilities and additions thereto permitted on the park- 11 lands described in chapter 729 of the laws of 1961 shall include: (a) a 12 new building operated by the lessee of the stadium that is used for any 13 of the following uses: (i) office and other work space accessory to the 14 stadium, including childcare facilities, (ii) local food and beverage 15 establishments, and (iii) meeting and event space that the lessee of the 16 stadium will make available to local community groups and organizations; 17 and (b) improvements enhancing access by the public to the adjacent 18 subway station serving the subway line. The city of New York is hereby 19 authorized to grant easements or other interests to the metropolitan 20 transportation authority for portions of such parklands occupied by 21 public access improvements to the adjacent subway station, upon such 22 terms and conditions as the city shall determine. 23 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately.